Raging wildfires kill 61 in Portugal; many trapped in cars
Hundreds of soldiers joined firefighters Sunday to battle wildfires raging across central Portugal that have killed dozens.
At least 61 people have died in the flames and suffocating smoke, said Jorge Gomes, an Interior Ministry official. Officials said many victims died trapped in their cars.
Portugal declared Sunday through Tuesday national days of mourning after the fire, “which has caused an irreparable loss of human life.”
“This is a region that has had fires because of its forests, but we cannot remember a tragedy of these proportions,” said Valdemar Alves, mayor of Pedrogao Grande. “I am completely stunned by the number of deaths.”
State broadcaster RTP showed images of people on a road trying to escape the intense smoke that had reduced visibility to a few yards. A huge wall of thick smoke and bright red flames towered over the tops of trees near houses in the wooded region. Vehicles were engulfed by the flames.
“Yesterday, we saw the fire but thought it was very far. I never thought it would come to this side,” resident Isabel Brandao told the Associated Press.
The government said 360 soldiers joined the 700 firefighters battling the blaze, which started Saturday.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa said firefighting crews had difficulties approaching the area because the fire was “very intense.”
A lightning strike may have sparked the inferno in the Pedrogao Grande area.
Investigators found a tree that was struck during a “dry thunderstorm,” the head of the national judicial police told Portuguese media.
Dry thunderstorms are frequent when falling water evaporates before reaching the ground because of high temperatures.
Portugal, like most southern European countries, is prone to forest fires in the dry summer months.
The European Union activated its civil protection efforts to help Portugal extinguish the fires.